Bleed For You
by Hidden Berserker
Summary: Sometimes I wonder what I ever did to get put into these situations. I have enough issues raising a two year old and now I have to lead some Inquisition? Never thought I'd miss Xavier's as much as I do but the people here just might start growing on me.


**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN DRAGON AGE OR IT'S CHARACTERS. I ONLY OWN JULIAN AND LANA.**

* * *

Where am I? Why is the world around me looking like some kind of green apocalypse? Did the world end again? My heart leapt into my throat as I frantically looked around, only to sag in relief when I realized that the little person that I'd been looking for was directly under me, as though I'd been shielding her. From what? I don't know but chances are I don't want to know.

I picked her up and put her on my back so that I could have at least one arm free if I needed to fight. I looked around and, in the distance, I could see the glowing figure of a woman. Since there were no other signs of life besides us, I decided to take my chances with the glowing woman. I've seen stranger things. There was nothing but silence and the sound of billowing wind in my ears and it was unsettling. There should at least be animals scurrying around but it was as if there was no life anywhere, I couldn't even smell anything.

However, the hairs on my arms rose when I heard hissing and clicking. I sniffed at the air but found nothing of substance. I craned my neck and felt my heart leap into my throat at the sight of these freaky spider things crawling after us. Getting caught wouldn't kill us but it would probably hurt like hell and while I could take it, Lana was still a kid and I won't put her through that. The spiders were practically on my heels when I was able to reach out to the woman. Then, I felt as if my insides were being unraveled again when the desolate world around me was washed away by a flash of light.

I blearily took in the new world around me that was just as desolate as the one before but now I could smell and hear people approaching. My arms felt weak as I brought Lana around to lie under me so I could protect her from whoever was coming at us. I'll be damned if they thought they could take her from me. I'll protect her to my dying breath. I let out a warning growl to any who got too close while keeping her head from touching the dirty ground by pillowing her head with my arm.

I growled even louder when a thin, pale and bald man came in to my blurry eyed view. I would have thought him to be Professor X if it wasn't for the fact that he had pointy ears and he could walk. He knelt down in front of me but kept his hands where I could see them. "Calm down friend," he said. "We will not harm the child. You have my word."

I stared deep into his light brown eyes for any sign of deception before I rolled off of Lana, allowing the pointy eared man to lift her into his arms. "If you…hurt her…they'll never find your body," I huffed before the blackness took over.

* * *

When I woke up, I was kneeling with my arms cuffed shoulder width apart with metal shackles. My eyes snapped open when a flash of green jolted from my left hand. "What the f –"

The large wooden door opened in front of me swung open, allowing two women to storm in. I looked up and just realized that there were a bunch of guys holding swords mere inches away from me sheath those same swords. I inwardly scoffed, as if those swords would actually do anything to someone like me. That didn't mean that I didn't keep my eyes on them and the women.

"Tell me why we shouldn't kill you now?" the one with short hair and a thick French accent snarled into my ear.

I met her gaze unflinchingly, "Tell me where my sister is."

"You are not in the position to be making demands!" she exclaimed.

"I'm not telling you a goddamn thing until I know that she's safe," I retorted.

She jerked me forward by my shirt and I bore my abnormally sharp teeth at her. The other woman who had red hair and wore a hood pulled her friend off of me. "We need him Cassandra!"

"The Conclave is destroyed, everyone who attended is dead except for you and your sister," the muscle, Cassandra, stated, her eye boring into mine.

"That's great and all but I don't know what a Conclave is and as far as I'm concerned I don't care. If I don't see me sister right fucking now, then I'll go looking for her," I glared at them as the shackles fell away due to the adamantium blades that flicked out of my wrist and sliced them open. The swords came back out as I rolled my shoulders and rubbed my wrists, knowing that the ease of my posture would unsettle them. "Now I won't ask again. Where is she?" The weird mark on my hand flashed, no doubt illuminating me in a sinister light.

The women shared a worried glance but the red head nodded to the short haired one before leaving. "Follow me," the French one ordered.

I decided not to argue if it would get me to my sister faster. I honestly didn't expect to see a giant green hole in the sky. "What the hell happened to the sky?!" I exclaimed.

"We call it the Breach. It's a massive rift into the world of demons that grows larger with each passing hour," Cassandra explained, following my gaze to the sky. "It's not the only such rift, just the largest. All were caused by the explosion at the Conclave."

I scratched my head in confusion, "Never heard of any explosion that could do that. You sure it wasn't magic? Magic tends to do impossible things that I can never wrap my head around."

Cassandra gave me a sharp look, "It is a possibility but unless we act now, the Breach may grow until it swallows the world."

Well that ain't good. I really want to see Lana to make sure she's safe but there won't be a world to be safe in if I don't take care of that Breach thing. "Fine take me – _SON OF A WHORE! JESUS FUCK!" _I doubled over as a pain I'd never experienced before ripped through my arm. It was like every cell, every molecule of my being was being burned, regenerated, and burned again in a never-ending cycle. Now I owe couple more dollars to the swear jar, damnit!

"Each time the Breach expands, your mark spreads… and it is killing you," Cassandra explained. I wanted to scoff, if only it would kill me. I'd probably be in for eternal agony which is still not very appealing. "It may be the key to stopping this but there isn't much time."

I sighed in relief when the pain subsided and staggered back up to my feet, "Well then, we better haul ass." I mentally added that next dollar to the swear jar. "Lead the way."

She nodded and walked me through the encampment where many people stared and gawked at us. Well, to be more specific, they were glaring at me. "They have decided your guilt. They need it. The people of Haven mourn our Most Holy, Divine Justinia, Head of the Chantry. The Conclave was hers. It was a chance for a peace between Mages and Templars. She brought their leaders together. Now, they are dead. We lash out, like the sky but we must think beyond ourselves as she did." She led me through a pair of large wooden doors

They can point their finger and place blame wherever they want but once that hole is closed then I'm taking Lana and getting out of here. Cassandra led me over a bridge, "There will be a trial and I can promise no more."

No there won't be. It'll be a farce of a trial, they'll say I'm guilty – end of trial, then send me to get executed, fail in executing me, and then either fear me as a demon or worship me like some god. I would honestly prefer neither. I'm just a man who heals really fast that wants to make sure his kid sister has a good life. It's obvious that she thinks the trial would be fair so I guess I won't be bursting her little bubble. However, the big question right now is, "Where are we going?"

"Your mark must be tested on something smaller than the Breach." That was all she said. I just rolled with it and walked through the doors at the end of the bridge. We weaved around pikes set up protect the soldiers behind them. At some point the Breach flared again, but I was ready for it this time. I clenched my fist, careful not to push my bones through my skin.

"The pulses are coming faster now." It sounded like she was talking about some eldritch horror type pregnancy. I couldn't help but to keep glancing up at the sky at the green things falling from the Breach. We continued on our way and she continued to press. "The larger the Breach grows, the more rifts, the more demons we face."

"So there's demons now! Great!" I groaned with sarcasm practically dripping from my voice. I started a light jog to pick up the pace and Cassandra followed. Unfortunately I had taken my eye off of the sky and one of those green comet things crashed into the bridge that Cassandra and I as well as some soldiers were crossing over. I had the breath knocked out of me as the bridge crumbled under our feet and I hit my back on a sharp piece of rock. I glanced up to see one of the comets landed on the frozen pond and opened up an acid green hole that a wraith looking thing jumped right out of. Cassandra leapt right into the fray but I was more cautious. I didn't know what I was dealing with because these weren't the kind of demons that I was used to. I thought it best to use the classic knuckle knives that my family had become known for.

I dodged the swipes the wraith made at me and stabbed at it whenever I saw an opening. It didn't really feel like was stabbing anything at all but it seemed to hurt the thing, so I kept going. It fell away to ash and I assumed that it was dead so I moved on to help Cassandra. I leapt up onto the back of the wraith that Cassandra was fighting, digging my claws into its semi-corporeal form and ending its life. I thought it was over, until Cassandra pulled her sword on me. "Drop your weapons! Now."

I rolled my eyes. "Please," I brushed her sword aside and walked past her. "Even if that could kill me. You'd still have to trust me at least a little in order to get through this. Now move it. We don't have all day." I could practically feel her disapproving glare on my back as she walked to pass me. We had to fight our way through more demons on the way to our next destination. Cassandra wasn't prepared for how savage I could be while fighting. I never exactly learned any other way of fighting so I used what works.

I didn't care much for all of the stairs we had to climb in the process though. Eventually, we came upon a bunch of soldiers struggling to fight a demon around a large green crystal floating in the air that my mark was reacting to. Cassandra and I helped the soldiers through the wave of demons to the best of our abilities before someone took my wrist. It was that same pointy eared man that promised to take care of Lana.

"Quickly! Before more come through!" he shouted over the roar of the portal thing.

He pointed my hand at it and green lightning shot out at the portal before it collapsed on itself and exploded. I grabbed him by the fabric of his shirt with one hand and held my claws under his chin. "Who are you? What did you do? And where is my sister?" I snarled.

I regarded me with a calmness that I associated with Professor X. "I am Solas. I did nothing to seal the rift, that credit is yours; and the child is safe. You left a rather lasting impression of her importance." I glared into his eyes, searching for any sign of a lie before I retracted my claws and let him go. It didn't escape my notice that his face was littered with scratches that could have come from an animal, no doubt Lana's doing.

I nodded at him and allowed myself a small smile, "I take it she woke up and realized that I wasn't there."

He gave me the most exasperated and haunted look that made me let out a bark of laughter. "I'm surprised that she did not kill me. How…Why…"

I shrugged, "Long story short, people are shit and Lana doesn't like many people. I'm still teaching her to ask questions before mauling people."

The elf-eared man nodded, still unsettled by this information and to the others it would appear that he was merely accepting what I said, but I could tell he caught the underlying threat. Lana may be my weakness but she wasn't weak by any means. Most of my friends have called her the most terrifying two-year-old that they have ever had the displeasure of meeting.

Our staring match was abruptly interrupted by the short blonde man with the crossbow on his back who chuckled at our topic of conversation. "You should have been there. I don't know what happened, but I heard screaming and then Chuckles ran out like he had an archdemon on his ass."

"I'd honestly rather face the archdemon."

The blonde laughed as he approached us and introduced himself. "Varric Tethras, rogue, storyteller, and occasionally unwelcome tagalong." He winked up at Cassandra who sneered at him in disgust.

"Nice crossbow," I said the first nice thing that came to mind. That seemed to be the right thing to say since Varric beamed up at me.

"Ah, isn't she? Bianca and I have been through a lot together."

"Then she'll be great company for whatever's next." Cassandra obviously had very strong feelings against letting Varric come with us but Varric pointed out that her soldiers were no longer in control of the situation and in situations like that, people tended to need all the help they can get. And that's just _without_ a giant demon-spawning hole in the sky.

"We must get to the forward camp quickly," Cassandra stressed, taking the lead once more, not looking back to see if I was even following.

Varric came around to my other side with a wry grin, "Well, Bianca's excited!"

We went down a bank since the actual road ahead would be blocked. It was as we following the dirt road that we saw more green demon meteors land in the frozen river. I hesitated to run out but the others didn't, so I assumed that they knew just how frozen the river was and I quickly followed. I growled and grunted as I took the demons one at a time. I hissed when I was hit by a sort of green fire, I whipped my head around and saw that it'd come from an acid green humanoid creature that looked like it was made of the green fire. I charged toward it and tried to strike it down but it kept flying out of my reach, so I had to get smart. Kissing my favorite sweater goodbye, I felt my ribs shift as they ripped through the fabric of my sweater when they rose out of my skin. I grabbed them between my fingers and sent them flying at the spectral demon. I smirked when the creature disintegrated into ash with a pained screech.

Varric gave me very disturbed stare, "Uh…I hope you don't need those."

I shrugged him off, "It's okay, I just finished growing more." I nearly jumped out of my skin when a freezing cold finger poked through the tear in my shirt and touched my new set of ribs.

I nearly gave myself whiplash when Solas raised a brow in curiosity, "Interesting."

I took his wrist and removed his cold hands from my side, "Solas, you're pretty and all but your hands are freezing and I would rather they never come near my person without gloves ever again."

Solas took it in stride and chuckled but I was half serious. Cold hands are the devil and they should be at least twenty feet away from people at all times. I had enough of that from Warren after his late-night flights and that asshole would do it on purpose. We traveled in silence until Varric posed the big question. "So…_are_ you innocent?"

"All I remember are big scary spiders and a glowing woman," I answered honestly.

Varric shook his head with a wry grin, "You should have spun a story."

"That's what _you_ would have done," Cassandra retorted in disdain.

"It's more believable, and less people to result in premature execution." Fair trial eh Cassandra?

We were once more stopped by demons that were quickly disposed of. It was like that for a while and as we got closer to the forward camp, my mark began to flare up which I was beginning to understand meant that a rift was nearby. Unfortunately, the rift was right in front of the forward camp. "Go! Seal the rift! We will handle the demons," Solas said, pushing me forward. I nodded without looking back and got close before stretching my arm out toward the rift.

It was fascinating to watch the crystals jerk in, out, and around each other like an intricate puzzle before unraveling, paralyzing any demon within its range. It felt like I was disrupting the flow of the rift until what was left was the flowing green wisps and a green gem-like rock in the center. The rift would fall apart when that rock exploded. "Did you guys see that too?" I asked no one in particular.

My gaze met Varric's who looked just as solemn as I did. Cassandra on the other hand didn't. "The rift is gone! Open the Gate!" she ordered to the people on the other side.

"Right away Lady Cassandra!" they responded.

Cassandra pat me on the shoulder, "We are clear for the moment. Well done."

I walked through the gate to see more people in leather armor and the rare person in metal armor. At the end of the bridge there was a tent with what looked like a priest and the hooded woman, who must be the Leliana that Cassandra had mentioned, standing over a table. The priest looked up and noticed us coming

Leliana walked up to greet us, "You made it. Chancellor Roderick, this is –"

"I know who it is," Roderick spat rather rudely, "As Grand Chancellor of the Chantry, I hereby order you to take this criminal to Val Royeaux to face execution."

I scoffed, "You can try to kill me, I guarantee that you won't succeed."

"He doesn't even have the power to order me. He is a glorified clerk, a bureaucrat!" Cassandra added.

"And you are a thug," Roderick retorted, "but a thug who supposedly serves the Chantry!"

Leliana turned a sharp eye on the small man, "We serve the Most Holy, Chancellor, as you well know."

The Chancellor threw his hands up, "Justinia is dead! We must elect a replacement, and obey _her_ orders on the matter!"

I folded my arms and rolled my eyes, "From what I understand there's a giant hole in the sky that could kill all of you and you're here talking about replacing a political figure? It seems like you don't see the big picture."

"And what pray tell is that big picture?" the Chancellor sneered.

"Well for one, if you don't handle the Breach then everyone dies. Second, there's no way in hell that you will ever be able to take me anywhere without my consent. Finally, you have no power and none of you are in charge. So, I'm gonna go close the devil's anus up there and then I'm gonna take my sister and go home. Clear?" By now, I was leaning over the table, shoulders hunched like my father would do his before he would get in fights. However, there's this sort of unspoken rule among the ferals, the one who looks away first is submissive, they lose. If no one looks away then that's a fight and the more dominant wins.

I know the Chancellor isn't a fighter just as far as I know that my golden eyes are unsettling when they're laid on people. Warren once described it as predatory. It's not like my father's because he snarls and puffs up. I'm more like my mother with her cool rage that could set fire with but a glance if she had powers like I did. She will look right through you into your soul and make you believe that she'll rip it out and eat it and I got learned look from her. I could see the sweat on his brow, the uncomfortable gulp, as well as his eyes darting like a lizard. He thinks that he dominates but he submits.

He made sure to avoid my gaze as he spoke to Cassandra, "Call a retreat, Seeker. Our position here is hopeless."

"We can stop this before it's too late," Cassandra pleaded, as she took her wary eyes off of me.

"How? You won't survive long enough to reach the temple, even with all your soldiers."

"We must get to the temple. It's the quickest route."

"But not the safest," Leliana interjected. "Our forces can charge as a distraction while we go through the mountains." She pointed up at the mountain that she was referring to and I followed her fingers.

"We lost contact with an entire squad on that path. It is too risky," Cassandra objected.

"Listen to me," the Chancellor implored, "abandon this now before more lives lost!"

As if voicing its own objection to that option, the Breach flared along with my mark. I bared my teeth in pain and clenched my fist. I looked up to see that Cassandra had turned to me, "How do _you_ think we should proceed?"

I had to stop and think about it. If we charged with the soldiers, we'd probably be forsaking any of the remaining members of that squad while adding on to the casualties with the soldiers, but if we go through the mountain, then we could rescue the squad but there also might be a high casualty rate for the soldiers sent as a distraction. It took a lot of deliberation but I decided to choose the mountain path. I could tell that Cassandra wasn't happy with that but she did ask me to make the decision. Cassandra told Leliana to bring everyone left in the valley and we began on our way but not without one more parting comment from the Chancellor.

"On your head, be the consequences Seeker."

I glanced at Cassandra and was impressed that she didn't even give the man any thought. That kind of threat tends to get to people because no one likes consequences especially if they're life or death. Having responsibilities over the lives of others means that you're the first to be blamed when a life is lost whether intentional or not. Not a lot of people I know could handle that kind of responsibility weighing on their shoulders. The ones I know don't exactly handle that weight in a healthy way.

While we walked, I fell back to walk beside Solas. "How was Lana when you last saw her?"

I could feel his inquisitive gaze burning into the side of my face but he answered nonetheless. "I had been tasked with providing for her needs. The bag that they found with you did help but she wouldn't stop screaming for her 'bubby?' I do not know what a 'bubby' is."

Solas must not have been around a lot of toddlers, "When she asks for bubby she means 'brother' which means me. She probably woke up without me and started to panic. Your face was unfortunately collateral damage."

"Were your parents at the Conclave? We have not been able to find anyone who recognized you, your sister, or the strange clothes that you wear." I looked down at myself to find that I was a pair of my most comfortable jeans, my now ruined green sweater, and the brown winter boots that I was wearing in preparation to return to my job at Xavier's after Thanksgiving break. I didn't particularly care for the school itself but it was a well-paying job and I enjoyed teaching the kids.

There was a set of ladders on the side of the mountain that we needed to climb. Cassandra had explained that we would be traveling through a tunnel and that the temple would be just beyond that. Apparently, the tunnel was part of one of many old mining complexes. I didn't completely trust the creaky wooden planks lining the side of the mountain that led to the but it was the path that I'd chosen, so I had to suck it up. Of course, there were even more demons in the tunnels and they were probably what was keeping the soldiers out of touch with the others. The tunnels were dimly lit by torches but after fighting our way to the exit, we were met with the bodies of three soldiers near the exit.

"That cannot be all of them," Cassandra pointed out sullenly.

"So, the others could be holed up ahead?" Varric asked hopefully.

"Our priority must be the Breach, unless we seal it soon, no one is safe," Solas urged.

"I'm leaving that to our strange friend here," Varric retorted.

As we followed the path, I could see a rift in the distance. When I got within range of the rift, my mark reacted to it and the demons began spawning. I ducked under Solas's swinging staff to lunge at a nearby demon and swiftly cut through what I assumed to be its jugular with my claws. As it faded away to ash, I raised my hand to the rift and began to disrupt it, stunning the demons, and giving the others the chance to finish them off. I balked at this tall spindly demon that would vanish and appear out of the ground near our feet. It seemed hellbent on reaching me and I kept dodging its long, clawed fingers until I saw an opening to swipe at its legs. I missed one and cut clean through the other. It felt a lot more solid than the other demons as blood spurted from the fresh wound. It let out a piercing screech and hopped on its remaining leg, using its tail to keep itself balanced. It was honestly a comical sight, but I had to act quickly, so I cut the other leg off and ran it through as it fell with one arm while closing the rift with the other.

"Sealed, as before," Solas panted as he came up beside me. "You are becoming quite proficient at this."

"Let's hope it works on the big one," Varric added.

I turned around as Cassandra approached me with one of the soldiers that we'd rescued. She was limping, but nothing seemed life threatening on the outside. "Thank the Maker you finally arrived, Lady Cassandra. I don't think we could have held out much longer."

"Thank our prisoner, Lieutenant," Cassandra corrected, gesturing to me. "He insisted we come this way."

The Lieutenant gawked at me with wide eyes, although it was tough to tell since her helmet only allowed me to see her eyes. "The prisoner? Then you…?"

"Don't worry about it, right now we need to get to the Breach," I waved her off. We don't have time for small talk.

"To the Breach," she parroted,"I don't –"

"The way into the valley behind us is clear for the moment. Go, while you still can," Cassandra ordered. The Lieutenant didn't argue and took what was left of her squad back the that we had came.

"The path ahead appears to be clear of demons as well," Solas stated as he watched them leave.

I nodded firmly," Then we better get a move on before that changes." We had to go down another set of ladders to get to the Temple. I thought we would be traveling in silence once again but it seemed as though Varric had even more questions.

"So, holes in the Fade don't just _accidentally_ happen, right?" I gotta admit that's a good question even though I don't know what on earth the "Fade" is.

"If enough magic is brought to bear, it _is_ possible," Solas replied.

"But there are easier ways to make things explode."

"I can vouch for that," I agreed.

"We will consider _how_ this happened once the immediate danger is past," Cassandra said, abruptly ending our short conversation before we could get too deep.

I noticed that the landscape was growing rough as we walked. There large, spikey crags of rocks and some seemed to have green light spread throughout them like spider webs. I saw the remains of what seemed to be a brick building. "The Temple of Sacred Ashes," Solas had called it.

"What's left of it," Varric muttered to himself, but I don't think he cared if we heard him or not.

"That is where you walked out of the Fade with the child on your back, and our soldiers found you." Is the Fade that strange barren place where those spiders came from? I was going to ask Solas just that until I saw them.

The bodies scattered around the skeletal remains of the former temples were plentiful. Some of the bodies merely laid on the ground while others were smoldering skeletons still frozen in the last moments of these people's lives. In some parts there weren't even bodies but merely scorched silhouettes permanently staining the stones. The stench of burnt flesh was so strong that I had to fight the urge to gag. I know from personal experience that being burnt alive is a long and painful process until the nerves get shot to hell, definitely not a fate I would wish on my worst enemy. I could barely force myself to hear Cassandra explaining what had happened. "They say a woman was in the rift behind you. No one knows who she was."

I swallowed the lump in my throat, dragging my gaze away from the bodies but the stench still remained, "Neither do I." I walked down the steps of a nearby passageway that remained and carefully avoided looking the gaping corpses whose eyeless sockets bore down on my soul. There was something deeply disturbing about the way their bodies were frozen in time with their jaws almost unhinged in sheer agony and fear. I'd never seen an explosive that could cause this kind of damage which meant whatever caused the Breach was a force to be reckoned with and that I had to proceed with caution. I lifted my gaze from the stone floor to see the giant crystal formation that was the mother of all rifts. It had wisps of green energy flowing into the sky, rending it even further apart.

"The Breach is a long way up," Varric said as he examined the sky.

"You're here!" I turned to see that Leliana had arrived with her soldiers. "Thank the Maker."

"Leliana, have your men take up positions around the Temple," Cassandra ordered and Leliana nodded in acquiescence. I didn't take my gaze from the Breach, now completely uncertain if I could close this thing. Cassandra came to stand between me and it, cutting off the downward spiral of my thoughts. "This is your chance to end this. Are you ready?"

"No but I don't think anyone was ready for this. Solas, what are the odds that this will work?" I asked the "Fade expert" since this seemed like his area of expertise.

"This rift was the first, and it is the key. Seal it, and perhaps we seal the Breach," that was actually more reassuring than I thought it would be. "Perhaps" is a lot more reassuring to hear than "won't."

"Then let's find a way down," I sighed, rolling my shoulders back and getting ready for whatever kind of fresh hell that would most likely spew out from the giant rift. It wouldn't be that far a stretch to assume that a bigger rift would spawn bigger demons, right?

I began to jog around the ruins to find a ladder, stairs, or maybe a short drop off that would get me to the Breach. However, a deep haunting voice echoed through the clearing, seeming to come from the big hole in the sky. _"Now is the hour of our victory. Bring forth the sacrifice."_

"What are we hearing?" Cassandra warily asked, searching for the source of the mysterious voice.

Solas was there to provide at least a theoretical answer, "At a guess: the person who created the Breach."

As we picked our way through the ruins, I noticed that there were these crystals that glowed an angry, burning red. "You know this stuff Is red lyrium, Seeker," I could hear the trepidation that Varric was trying to hide as he pointed this out to Cassandra.

"I see it Varric," she answered curtly.

"But what's it _doing_ here?" the short blonde pressed.

"Magic could have drawn the lyrium beneath the Temple, corrupted it…" Solas speculated only to be met by a scoff from Varric.

"It's evil. Whatever you do don't touch it." The red glowing stuff is evil. Got it. I finally found a set of stairs that went down and the deep mysterious voice returned.

"_Keep the sacrifice still,"_ they said.

I dropped down off of a short ledge and stood behind the soldiers surrounding the rift, pointing their swords and bows at it and whatever may come out of it. My mark began to react and I lifted my hand in preparation of disrupting the large rift. Then, a feminine voice cried out.

"_Someone help me!"_

"_Where are we? Who are you people!?"_ Wait, that's my voice! Why can't I remember that!?

"_Bubby!"_ That was Lana's voice I just heard! She sounds terrified! What did we see?!

"That was your voice," Cassandra said, pulling me from my daze. "Most Holy called out to you but…"

Thankfully she was cut off by the Breach acting up, most likely about to spit some hellspawn out of its depths. I was completely wrong. It showed a dark shadowy figure standing above an old lady T-posing in what looks like bastardized pope clothes. She seemed to be held up by some kind of red magic around her arms. I turned my head to see me holding onto my sister with a look of utter confusion and disgust on my face. _"Where are we? Who are you people!?"_

Lana craned her neck to look at them and gasped before hiding her face in my neck. _"Bubby!"_ she whimpered.

"_Run while you can! Warn them!"_ the old woman called to me.

"_We have intruders,"_ the mysterious figure stated dispassionately as he pointed at us, earning a whimper from Lana. _"Slay them."_

The last thing I heard were my snarls before the scene exploded in green light. Cassandra pinned me with a stern glare, "You _were_ there! Who attacked? And the Divine, is she…? Was this vision true? What are we seeing?" With each question she stepped closer until she was almost a foot away. I was quickly growing annoyed by said questions because she never gave me time to answer each one.

"I don't know okay! I'm just as lost as you are!"

Solas had been steadily staring up at the Breach. "Echoes of what happened here," he said, "the Fade bleeds into this place. This rift is not sealed, but it is closed…albeit temporarily. I believe that with the Mark, the rift can be opened, and then sealed properly and safely. However, opening the rift will likely attract attention from the other side."

"That means demons!" Cassandra said loud and clear to the soldiers around us. "Stand ready." They all scrambled to get into position with their swords at the ready. I looked up at the higher areas and saw archers with their arrows pointed directly at the rift. I glanced a Cassandra for a moment, waiting for her to be ready. She pulled out her sword and merely nodded at me. That was my cue to take a step forward and extend my left arm to the rift. Unlike the other rifts, I felt that same pain from before rip through my arm as my mark shot green light into the rift. I don't know when, but at some point, I had gotten used to the pain and I powered through it to open the rift.

I was nearly knocked off of my feet when it exploded into life, but it shot a green light back out. I followed the arc of the light and to my surprise, it made a giant ugly spiked grey creature with several eyes and sharp teeth appear with a bellowing roar. When the light faded, it fell to the earth with a heavy thud as it glared down at the soldiers around it. Cassandra raised her sword and signaled for the soldiers to act. I could see electricity dancing on the monster's hide as it let out a rather sinister laugh. I looked between it and the rift with uncertainty. I groaned to myself when I saw a soldier fall as the demon approached with malicious intent, knowing damn well what I was about to do.

I felt the muscles in my legs coil up like a spring as I sprinted toward the soldier. I collided with him like a freight train but it got him out of the way of the demon's foot. I immediately hopped off of him and got behind the demon while it focused its attention on other soldiers, and swung my claws where I hoped its Achilles tendon was, if it even had that. Apparently, it did, because it let out an ear shattering roar of pain and fell down onto one knee. Cassandra helped me up and pushed me back toward the Breach. "Focus on the Breach! We will distract the demon," she ordered before getting back into a ready stance to take on the nearest demon.

I grit my teeth, not liking that I had to ignore the screams of the soldiers risking their lives for this. I gradually got more and more weak as I continued to disrupt the rift but the demon got weaker as well. At some point voices began to get muffled and I felt like I had to throw up but with one last thrust of my hand, the Breach exploded in green light and I lost consciousness. Hopefully that demon is dead otherwise I might actually be screwed.


End file.
